THE sign promises improved journey times, but drivers using Frideswide Square in Oxford will have to wait.

The £5.8m revamp of the busy junction at the end of the Botley Road, expected to be completed in December, is starting to cause holdups for drivers.

Highways engineers have come up with a scheme to help traffic flow more freely by introducing three roundabouts, with traffic heading along a central boulevard.

Every day thousands of drivers head through the square, which includes the entrance to Oxford railway station, but the latest phase of work, which started on February 27, is beginning to cause queues.

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Yesterday, at the end of the rushhour period, traffic tailed back into Botley Road, although a broken-down bus in Park End Street may have contributed to delays.

Amanda Suliman-Bell, who runs the Rainbow and Spoon boutique in Frideswide Square, said: “Traffic on the approaches to the square seems to be slowing up, but once vehicles reach the square itself they move through quite quickly. For now drivers will have to grin and bear it.”

As part of the revamp there will be one large roundabout outside the station with two mini-roundabouts outside the Royal Oxford Hotel.